With the ever increase in the cost of mail great efforts have been expended to sort mail into, for example, common categories. A frequent sorting is done by way of zip codes. If, for example, a company such as an insurance company or a direct mail advertising company could group the individual items of mail from the same zip code into a common batch then advantage could be taken of the bulk mail rate. With such company, such bulk rate reductions constitute a significant cost savings which would be desirable if a mail sorting system could have a high speed and efficient transport assembly to facilitate the classification of individual flat items of mail. Such a system should have ready adaptability to the various automated mail sorting systems being devised, whether for use by private companies or for the Post Office.
A particularly efficient mail sorting system is TRITEK.TM. 88-5. This system uses a optical character reader to presort mail in private industries and mail houses. The system includes a support surface on which the mail is conveyed by means of sets of belts movably mounted on rollers. A reader arrangement determines which of a plurality of bins would receive the individual items of mail in individual categories such as defined by different zip codes. The transport assembly which receives the mail and directs it into the individual bins, includes pivotal diverters associated with sets of belts and light tracking devices to receive and direct the mail into the individual bins.